With the release of the Kindle Oasis 2, Amazon brought back support for Audible audiobooks on certain Kindle models.
Kindles used to support audiobooks and MP3 files several generations ago, but with the release of the 1st Kindle Paperwhite in 2012, Amazon opted to drop audio support on Kindles altogether.
Now Audible support is back on select models, which includes the 1st and 2nd gen Kindle Oasis and the entry-level $79 Kindle.
The Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Voyage both support VoiceView when using an audio adapter, but neither support audiobooks.
The addition of Audible on Kindles is a nice perk, but unfortunately they still don’t support Immersion Reading (reading while listening) or text-to-speech like Fire tablets do.
Plus the downside with using a Kindle to play audiobooks is the simple fact that Kindles have small batteries. From my battery life test with the Kindle Oasis 2, it lasted about 8 hours when playing an audiobook. By comparison the $49 Fire tablet can easily double, probably even triple that number on a single charge.
So the question is, now that Kindles support audiobooks again, do you like using a Kindle for that? Or would you rather use a phone, tablet or other device?
I personally don’t see myself using a Kindle for that when my phone is smaller, always with me, is something I charge every night, etc. . . not to mention how often I listen to audiobooks in the car! I’m sure some people love it, but it’s not for me. It would be a game-changer if they supported immersion reading, though; that would be something I’d love for classics, or other elevated works that I sometimes have trouble focusing on.
I’d like it if I could sideload MP3 podcasts, but I recognize that doesn’t help Amazon make money.
I don’t really care about Audio support….especially since I have to drain two devices (the kindle and BT Earbuds) to use it.
As far as Immersion Reading….I assume that would drain the battery even faster. Unless, it just kept you on the right page, instead of highlighting every word.
Voice View is also on the Oasis 2. It works well enough that if I don’t want to put down a book, but have to go back to work, I’ll just start Voiceview and let it read to me while I fix cars.
I don’t use Audible on the Oasis 2 nearly as much as I expected to. I prefer audible for Android, at least for the player. The store is pretty sketch on the app.
I’m an avid Audible.com user and have the new Oasis2. However, my disappointment with battery capacity has kept me away from using the Audible feature, though I have downloaded several titles.
The battery thing is partly my fault, as I need and appreciate a bright screen. I have 2 dedicated iPods just for audiobooks- one in the car and one with my Bose earphones for travel.
I don’t like that Amazon charges so much for Kindle/Audible book combos, as they own Audible.I do listen to audio books if I’m doin housekeeping or gardening, but not for “serious” books. The bluetooth connection on my Oasis 1 works well, so I do appreciate using it for the few books to which I listen.
I believe it’s not possible to have only the Audible version downloaded to Kindle, but I would be thrilled to be wrong, as I have a large Audible library.
Yeah, you can download any Audible titles without owning the ebooks.
Thanks, Nathan!
Now I won’t have to run down my phone battery or dig out my iPad to listen to a book!
I personnaly have no interest for audio books except when in my car, so the audio feature on an e-book reader is somewhat of a superfluous feature for me. All I ask of my reader is a sharp screen, page buttons, good lighting and a light and sturdy body. Can’t be so much to ask, no?
I like immersion reading. To have immersion reading, TTS and audible on a Kindle e-reader will be the day I purchase a new Kindle.
I would use it in my car with a Bluetooth speaker. A device with all the said features and eink would live in my purse. Now that most stores have courtesy interest I use the experimental browser when in a crunch.
Plus I miss having apps on my Kindle. I had a calculator and a few word puzzles.
Charging is not an issue especially while driving. My inexpensive 300W Power Inverter that converts DC 12V to AC 110V keep my devices charged while commuting.
Until that day, I will stick with the Paperwhite.
I would like to see a conversation regarding Alexa on Kindle e-readers.
I hear rumors of an update coming for immersion reading. Until then I prefer phone or tablet for I like the immersion reading. I love the larger screen but I find the lighting better on the Paperwhite
I’ve enjoyed listening to Overdrive audio books in the past. I sampled Audible books, but found them missing a key feature. With the Overdrive app, the ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ buttons on my BT headset will skip the book back or forward by 20 seconds or so. This is very helpful for when my attention is momentarily diverted from the reading. These buttons don’t work with Audible on my Kindle Fire.
I also don’t care much for Audible’s subscription format. If I want to listen to the occasional audio book, fine, but with Audible the financial agreement pretty much means that I have to listen to audio books regularly, even if events aren’t working that way for me in a given month or stretch of months.
I mostly use my Android phone with the Kindle App for Android and use immersion reading on every book that I own that has it.
I use it at my desk with the phone connected for charging and a nice external speaker that makes the sound awesome.
I use it in my car with a dash mount and have the phone charging from the 12v utility socket with a USB charge adapter and the headphone output connected to the car stereo’s Aux Audio In socket. Again, the sound is awesome. A nice feature of using the Kindle for Android app in the car (even though I’m not looking at the highlighted text while driving), is that when my wife phones me, the phone automatically pauses the book playback and switches on Speakerphone mode and auto-answers the call, completely hands-free! When the caller hangs up, it closes the phone app and resumes playing the Kindle immersion reading – again hands-free.
While at home, I can mirror my Android phone’s screen to the Roku and watch/listen to the immersion reading on the 50″ living room TV.
At my Windows 10 PC, I have to use the BlueStacks Android Emulator and run the Kindle for Android App from inside the BlueStacks emulator to get support for immersion reading.
Both Microsoft and Amazon have dropped the ball with Kindle for PC and the Kindle for Windows App because neither of those support immersion reading directly in Windows 10. The BlueStacks emulator appears to be a Pixel phone to the Kindle for Android App and fools it into allowing immersion reading.
I will never own a Kindle tablet because my 4 year old $70 Android phone can already do all the things I need it to do with my collection of over 300 Kindle books, most of which have Audible narration.